Delhi court orders CCTV footage preserved in Dhaula Kuan BMW crash

Responding to Makkad’s counsel’s plea that the footage be produced in court so the judge could view it during bail proceedings, the magistrate said it was at the court’s discretion and issued notice to the investigating officer to appear on Friday with the case diary

A Delhi court on Thursday directed city police to preserve CCTV footage from the stretch in Dhaula Kuan where a speeding BMW crashed into 52-year-old Navjot Singh who was on a two-wheeler, killing him and severely injuring his wife.

The crash occurred on September 14 around 1.30pm, when Singh, a deputy secretary in the Union Finance Ministry, and his wife were riding home to Hari Nagar. A speeding BMW driven by Makkad, a Gurugram resident, crashed into a metro pillar near Dhaula Kuan, overturned, and rammed into their bike. (Representational image)

The order was passed by judicial magistrate first class Ankit Garg after the accused, Gaganpreet Makkad, moved an application seeking preservation of the footage to show the sequence of events and to use it in her bail arguments.

The court instructed police to secure CCTV recordings from metro pillars 65 to 67, along with any other relevant video evidence. Makkad’s BMW had crashed into one of these pillars before overturning and hitting Singh’s bike.

Responding to Makkad’s counsel’s plea that the footage be produced in court so the judge could view it during bail proceedings, the magistrate said it was at the court’s discretion and issued notice to the investigating officer to appear on Friday with the case diary.

Her counsel argued, “The footage shows her car first hitting the pillar and then crashing into Singh’s bike, which collides with a bus.” He also said the bus should be seized and its driver examined.

Police, in their response reported by HT, alleged that Makkad acted with “mala fide intentions” by not taking Singh and his wife to the nearest hospital. Instead, they said, she took them about 20km away to Nulife Super Speciality Hospital in GTB Nagar, which purportedly had links to her family.

According to police, “Several crucial moments were lost due to Gaganpreet’s negligence and she intentionally frustrated the situation by taking the victim to a far-away hospital with inadequate medical facilities.”

Makkad’s counsel, senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, countered that police had wrongly invoked the section on culpable homicide not amounting to murder. “Even the victim and her family suffered trauma due to the accident, and she tried her best to give them medical assistance,” he said.

Bail arguments will continue on Saturday, while Gaganpreet remains in judicial custody until September 27.

The crash occurred on September 14 around 1:30 pm, when Singh, a deputy secretary in the Union Finance Ministry, and his wife were riding home to Hari Nagar. A speeding BMW driven by Makkad, a Gurugram resident, crashed into a metro pillar near Dhaula Kuan, overturned, and rammed into their bike. The couple were taken to Venkateshwara Hospital, where Navjot was declared dead.

Makkad has been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, obstruction of evidence, rash driving, and endangering lives.